


Kinky 'Fro

by ismellitblue



Category: Queen Sugar (TV)
Genre: Affection, Angst, Beauty - Freeform, Family, Fluff, Gen, Hair, Hurt/Comfort, Nova and Charley bond, Self Acceptance, Self-Love, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:55:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25716148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ismellitblue/pseuds/ismellitblue
Summary: Charley learns to love her hair.
Relationships: Charley Bordelon West & Nova Bordelon
Kudos: 2





	Kinky 'Fro

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Queen Sugar.

The ladies at the beauty parlor are loud, and they coo as they squeeze Charley's cheeks.

Blonde, red and bright pink hair getting into her face when they hug her. But she doesn't complain-she never does. Instead she smiles sweetly, sitting properly and not complaining when the hair relaxer starts to burn her scalp. She balls her fists hard when they wash the product out. And though the white suds are no longer there, the chemical smell clings to her.

The heat of the drier hurts, but she endures-still smiling, even as the comb threatens to take her head off.

"There you are, don't you look lovely," Mother says, smiling brightly. The ladies hold up a mirror, and Charley gasps in shock. Her hair, all stretched out, has been styled to look just like her mother's.

"We match!" She squeals before remembering her manners and getting to her feet quietly to give her mother a quiet hug.

They go for ice cream afterwards, and Charley spends hours listening to her mother plan out how they're going to spend the remainder of the weekend...it's nice.

What's not nice, is the girls at school on Monday.

They don't come out and say it, but she sees the smirks, and poorly hidden laughter as they point and stare at her hair. She endures it for weeks, and by the time vacation come around, she's tired. Tired of the fake cheer, and tired of the school kids who all seem to have some insider information that they never share with her. The joy she'd felt over her new hairstyle, together with the style itself, are long gone. She's taken to beating her hair into submission with styling gel, her routine taking longer than all the other girls.

When the school gates are nothing more than a distant memory and she sees her family farm come into view, with Daddy, Ra, and Nova waiting for her she almost cries.

***

A week into her stay at the farm, she runs out of styling gel ( having packed only one bottle in her excitement to get there).

She holds the same hairstyle for three more days, and then she's forced to wash her hair. When she comes down to dinner that night, she dorns a headscarf. It's not the works of art that Nova normally wears, just a simple tie at the back. But her messy hair is concealed, so that's what counts.

Another week passes and her hair takes on the shape of the headscarf, but since it's hidden most of the day, she doesn't really mind it.

"Charley, come with me," Nova says one day after they've finished shelling peanuts. Her sister takes her hand and lets herself be led to the back of the house.

"Take off your scarf," She hesitates briefly, then she remembers that this is Nova, not the girls at school. If anything she'll understand the struggle Charley's haing with her hair, so with a deep breath, she pulls off her scarf.

"This, is a crime," Nova says, touching knot"Luckily, I know just what to do,"

***

First they go deep into the field, and Nova shows her how to pick aloe leaves. Together they peel off the greens and leave the slippery center, blending it into a thick white goo. It goes easily on Charley's hair, and it doesn't stink like the relaxer. The aloe eases into her scalp, aided by Nova's fingers as she washes Charley's hair, and by the time Nova's hands are replaced by a wide toothed comb, the fact that the process is ussually painful is a distant memory.

Nova hums as she works, and once the comb can go through Charley's hair without snagging, she parts it, and gets to work twisting it.

"These are bantu knots, you can take them down in the morning" And Charley does, and once she's done, she stares at herself in the mirror...and smiles. Her hair frames her face with soft curls, the strands catching the morning light between them.

"Looks good don't it,"Nova says when she comes down for breakfast, and Charley can't help the tears that come to her eyes even as she smiles.

FInally she gets it.

Bald, afro,straight, curly...it doesn't matter.

It's not about the hair, or the style it's in...it's about having the confidence to rock whatever you've got.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't been overtaken by the urge to write on the fly in a long time. What do you guys think? Kudos are welcome:):)


End file.
